scholarly journals Proportion of cocaine-coding neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex determines individual drug preferences

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karine Guillem ◽  
Serge H. Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Individual Preference ◽  
Cocaine Addiction ◽  
Individual Preferences ◽  
Individual Drug ◽  
Drug Preference ◽  
Prefrontal Region ◽  
Over Time

SUMMARYCocaine addiction is a harmful preference for drug use over and at the expense of other nondrug-related activities. Here we identify in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) – a prefrontal region involved in choice and decision-making – a mechanism that explains individual preferences in rats between cocaine use and an alternative, nondrug action. We found that initiation of these actions is selectively encoded by two non-overlapping populations of OFC neurons, and that the relative size and differential pre-choice activity of the cocaine action-coding population determine an individual preference, a larger size and a higher pre-choice activity being associated with cocaine preference. A larger size is a structural feature that may confer to a population of OFC neurons a competitive advantage during choice in favor of the encoded action. Such structural encoding also explains two other major defining features of an individual drug preference, its stability over time and its resistance to change.

Changing Trends in Age and Sex Distributions of Lyme Disease—United States, 1992-2016

2021 ◽  
pp. 003335492110267
Author(s):  
Kiersten J. Kugeler ◽  
Paul S. Mead ◽  
Amy M. Schwartz ◽  
Alison F. Hinckley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
The United States ◽  
Male Predominance ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Age And Sex

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States and is characterized by a bimodal age distribution and male predominance. We examined trends in reported cases during a 25-year period to describe changes in the populations most affected by Lyme disease in the United States. We examined demographic characteristics of people with confirmed cases of Lyme disease reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during 1992-2016 through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. We grouped cases into 5-year periods (1992-1996, 1997-2001, 2002-2006, 2007-2011, 2012-2016). We calculated the average annual incidence by age and sex and used incidence rate ratios (IRRs) to describe changes in Lyme disease incidence by age and sex over time. We converted patient age at time of illness into patient birth year to ascertain disease patterns according to birth cohorts. The incidence of Lyme disease in the United States doubled from 1992-1996 to 2012-2016 (IRR = 1.74; 95% CI, 1.70-1.78) and increased disproportionately among males; IRRs were 39%-89% higher among males than among females for most age groups. During the study period, children aged 5-9 years were most frequently and consistently affected. In contrast, the average age of adults with Lyme disease increased over time; of all adults, people born during 1950-1964 were the most affected by Lyme disease. Our findings suggest that age-related behaviors and susceptibilities may drive infections among children, and the shifting peak among adults likely reflects a probability proportional to the relative size of the baby boom population. These findings can inform targeted and efficient public health education and intervention efforts.

An Experimental Study of Cache Recovery By Hoarding Willow Tits After Different Retention Intervals

Behaviour ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 134 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 881-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Kunz ◽  
Anders Brodin
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Parus Montanus ◽  
Individual Preferences ◽  
Cache Recovery ◽  
Retention Intervals ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Better Than

AbstractWe allowed seven willow tits, Parus montanus, to store and retrieve with retention intervals of 1, 7, 21 and 56 days, in four experimental rooms. Retrieval success decreased over time, indicating a decaying memory for cache locations. Compared to what could be expected by chance, retrieval success was better after all retention intervals. Our results suggest that - after the longer retention intervals - this might depend on preferences for certain types of caching locations rather than memory. If both general and individual preferences are controlled for, birds retrieved significantly better than expected one and seven days after storing, but not later than that.

“Go Work Over There and Come Do Something Here”

On the Move ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filiz Garip
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Short Duration ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
The United States ◽  
Real Wages ◽  
Large Share ◽  
Household Heads ◽  
Migrant Stream ◽  
Over Time

This chapter discusses a particular group that dominated the migrant stream from Mexico to the United States in 1965. The group contained a large share of men—many of them household heads who were married with children—from rural central-western communities in Mexico. Migrants in the group typically had little education, worked in agriculture in both Mexico and the United States, and took multiple trips of short duration. This group is referred to as circular migrants. Circular migrants declined both in absolute numbers and in relative size over time, accounting for less than 10 percent of new migrants by 2010. Circular migrants declined in numbers as incomes in Mexico rose, real wages in the United States fell, and the budget dedicated to securing the border grew exponentially between 1965 and 2010.

scholarly journals The tax gap as a public management instrument: application to wealth taxes

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (81) ◽  
pp. 207-225
Author(s):  
José M. Durán-Cabré ◽  
Alejandro Esteller Moré ◽  
Mariona Mas-Montserrat ◽  
Luca Salvadori
Keyword(s):  
Public Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tax Gap ◽  
Wealth Tax ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Gift Tax ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the concept of tax gap, that is the difference between the total amount of taxes collected and the total tax revenues that would be collected under full tax compliance. Design/methodology/approach The authors also present the methodology to estimate the gap for two taxes levied on wealth: the wealth tax and the inheritance and gift tax; both are administered in Spain by the regional tax authorities. Findings The authors point out that its estimation offers useful information about the relative size and nature of non-compliance, as well as its evolution over time. Likewise, the tax gap is a valuable instrument not only to define enforcement strategies of the tax administration but also to enhance its accountability. Nonetheless, the methodology used to estimate the tax gap and, consequently, the interpretation of the results is subject to limitations that are discussed in the paper. Originality/value Finally, the paper provides the results of the estimations obtained from using microdata: 44.34 per cent gap in the wealth tax and 41.26 per cent in the inheritance and gift tax.

Channeling the “Restless Spirit of Innovation”: Elite Concessions and Institutional Change in the British Reform Act of 1832

2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 678-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Change ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mass Mobilization ◽  
Sources Of Resistance ◽  
State Reform ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
Parliamentary Reform ◽  
Over Time

The long-standing understanding of the British 1832 Reform Act as an elite response to a revolutionary threat has been given renewed prominence in recent work on the political economy of democratization. But earlier episodes of popular revolt in Britain led to elite unity rather than elite concessions. This article argues that the absence of effective elite closure against parliamentary reform in the early 1830s was the result of an extended process of state reform that had the effect of gradually reducing the capacity of the monarchy. This deprived the crown of patronage required for the construction of an antireform coalition, while also mollifying the reformers' fears that mass mobilization would invite repression and with it the recalibration of the constitution in favor of the monarchy. Therefore, while pressure from below was indeed critical to the passage of parliamentary reform, its contribution was mediated by institutional changes that, over time, weakened the sources of resistance to change and rendered reformist elites more amenable to the necessary reliance on the threat of force. This case study thus establishes that change at critical junctures can be subject to the influence of incremental institutional change occurring in relatively settled periods.

scholarly journals Social Preferences, Beliefs, and the Dynamics of Free Riding in Public Goods Experiments

2010 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 541-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urs Fischbacher ◽  
Simon Gächter
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Real World ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Free Riding ◽  
Voluntary Contributions ◽  
Conditional Cooperation ◽  
Individual Preferences ◽  
D 83 ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Voluntary Cooperation

One lingering puzzle is why voluntary contributions to public goods decline over time in experimental and real-world settings. We show that the decline of cooperation is driven by individual preferences for imperfect conditional cooperation. Many people's desire to contribute less than others, rather than changing beliefs of what others will contribute over time or people's heterogeneity in preferences makes voluntary cooperation fragile. Universal free riding thus eventually emerges, despite the fact that most people are not selfish. (D12, D 83, H41, Z13)

scholarly journals Spread, Scale-up, and Sustainability of Video Consulting in Health Care: Systematic Review and Synthesis Guided by the NASSS Framework

10.2196/23775 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. e23775
Author(s):  
Hannah M James ◽  
Chrysanthi Papoutsi ◽  
Joseph Wherton ◽  
Trisha Greenhalgh ◽  
Sara E Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Reimbursement Mechanisms ◽  
Over Time

Background COVID-19 has thrust video consulting into the limelight, as health care practitioners worldwide shift to delivering care remotely. Evidence suggests that video consulting is acceptable, safe, and effective in selected conditions and settings. However, research to date has mostly focused on initial adoption, with limited consideration of how video consulting can be mainstreamed and sustained. Objective This study sought to do the following: (1) review and synthesize reported opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned in the scale-up, spread, and sustainability of video consultations, and (2) identify transferable insights that can inform policy and practice. Methods We identified papers through systematic searches in PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science. Included articles reported on synchronous, video-based consultations that had spread to more than one setting beyond an initial pilot or feasibility stage, and were published since 2010. We used the Nonadoption, Abandonment, and challenges to the Scale-up, Spread, and Sustainability (NASSS) framework to synthesize findings relating to 7 domains: an understanding of the health condition(s) for which video consultations were being used, the material properties of the technological platform and relevant peripherals, the value proposition for patients and developers, the role of the adopter system, organizational factors, wider macro-level considerations, and emergence over time. Results We identified 13 papers describing 10 different video consultation services in 6 regions, covering the following: (1) video-to-home services, connecting providers directly to the patient; (2) hub-and-spoke models, connecting a provider at a central hub to a patient at a rural center; and (3) large-scale top-down evaluations scaled up or spread across a national health administration. Services covered rehabilitation, geriatrics, cancer surgery, diabetes, and mental health, as well as general specialist care and primary care. Potential enablers of spread and scale-up included embedded leadership and the presence of a telehealth champion, appropriate reimbursement mechanisms, user-friendly technology, pre-existing staff relationships, and adaptation (of technology and services) over time. Challenges tended to be related to service development, such as the absence of a long-term strategic plan, resistance to change, cost and reimbursement issues, and the technical experience of staff. There was limited articulation of the challenges to scale-up and spread of video consultations. This was combined with a lack of theorization, with papers tending to view spread and scale-up as the sum of multiple technical implementations, rather than theorizing the distinct processes required to achieve widespread adoption. Conclusions There remains a significant lack of evidence that can support the spread and scale-up of video consulting. Given the recent pace of change due to COVID-19, a more definitive evidence base is urgently needed to support global efforts and match enthusiasm for extending use.

scholarly journals Clarifying the nature of the association between social dominance orientation and environmentalism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Samantha Kay Stanley
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
General Population ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Environmental Attitudes ◽  
Individual Preference ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Relative Preference ◽  
Over Time

<p>A small number of studies have reported a negative association between social dominance orientation (SDO: the relative preference for social inequality and intergroup dominance) and environmentalism. However, the existing research has yet to fully investigate the nature of this relationship. In this thesis, I develop a programme of research that aims to clarify how ideology relates to environmentalism, in several important ways.  I start by systematically reviewing the relationship between SDO, the related ideological construct of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA: the preference to submit to authority and tradition, and punish those who deviate), and environmentalism. I do this by meta-analysing the associations reported in the existing literature, and previously un-published datasets. These analyses show that both ideological constructs are important for understanding human-environment relations. Importantly, SDO is more strongly related to environmentalism in general population samples than in student samples, which helps to reconcile previous inconsistencies in the literature.  I then explore the ideology-environmentalism link over time, comparing the strengths of the associations with environmentalism and SDO and RWA. Consistent with the meta-analyses I show that, while RWA is more predictive of changes in environmental attitudes over time in student populations, SDO is the key predictor among general population samples. Therefore, dependent on sample, these findings indicate that endorsing these ideologies lead to changes in environmentalism over time.  Next, I elaborate on the SDO-environmentalism relationship by exploring whether and how the two facets of SDO (anti-egalitarianism and dominance) differentially relate to environment-relevant attitudes. Overall, I find that anti-environmental attitudes are largely driven by individual preference for inequality rather than for intergroup dominance.  Previous work, including my own, has focused exclusively on quantitative survey-based methods. I invited individuals scoring relatively high, moderately, and low on SDO to share their ideas on climate change. Interviews with these individuals revealed that many were concerned about the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to climate change. Most participants were also armed with justifications excusing their, and others’, inaction on the problem. To establish how the ideas shared in the interviews related to SDO, I reworked them into statements for survey-based research. This research demonstrates that ideology (both SDO and RWA) also related to most of these interview-based statements, with those scoring higher on dominance attitudes more opposed to top-down action on climate change, and those more tolerant of inequality more opposed to individual action.  In sum, my work adds to the growing body of research that establishes ideology as a barrier to environmental engagement. My findings support the interpretation of SDO as a barrier to engagement through an environmental justice framework. If we are to stop the warming of the planet and increased social inequality that this brings, then we must also understand ideology as a barrier to belief and action on climate change.</p>

scholarly journals Handling Resistance to Change When Societal and Workplace Logics Conflict

2020 ◽  
pp. 000183922096276
Author(s):  
Namrata Malhotra ◽  
Charlene Zietsma ◽  
Timothy Morris ◽  
Michael Smets
Keyword(s):  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Law Firms ◽  
Societal Change ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Response Pair ◽  
Time Logic ◽  
Over Time

Changes in societal logics often leave firms’ policies and practices out of step. Yet when firms introduce a change that brings in a new societal logic, employees may resist, even though they personally value the change, because the incoming logic conflicts with existing organizational logics. How can change agents handle logic-based resistance to an organizational initiative that introduces a new logic? We studied elite law firms that introduced a new role into their traditional up-or-out career path in response to associates’ anonymously expressed desire for better work–life balance, which associates resisted because expressing family concerns was illegitimate within the firms. Change agents responded to three forms of resisters’ logic-based concerns—irreconcilability, ambiguity, and contradiction—with three tailored responses—redirecting, reinforcing, and reassuring—using contextually legitimate logic elements. Over time logic elements of each concern–response pair harmonized to enable individuals to enact their logics seamlessly and organizations to update the existing logic settlement to assimilate the societal change. We demonstrate that the way available logics are accessed and activated between pluralistic change agents and resisters can enable logic settlements to be updated in response to societal change. We draw insights about how logics do or do not constrain agency.

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